Perspective of Medical Students on the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey of Nine Medical Schools in Uganda

Perspective of Medical Students on the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey of Nine Medical Schools in Uganda

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a global public health concern affecting over 5 million people and posing a great burden on health care systems worldwide. The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of medical students in Uganda on the COVID-19 pandemi...

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Published in:JMIR public health and surveillance Vol. 6; no. 2; p. e19847
Main Authors: Olum, Ronald, Kajjimu, Jonathan, Kanyike, Andrew Marvin, Chekwech, Gaudencia, Wekha, Godfrey, Nassozi, Dianah Rhoda, Kemigisa, Juliet, Mulyamboga, Paul, Muhoozi, Oscar Kabagambe, Nsenga, Lauryn, Lyavala, Musilim, Asiimwe, Asaph, Bongomin, Felix
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Canada JMIR Publications 19-06-2020
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
COVID-19
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Male
Original Paper
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Schools, Medical
Students, Medical - psychology
Students, Medical - statistics & numerical data
Surveys and Questionnaires
Uganda - epidemiology
Young Adult
Uganda
COVID-19
medical education
medical students
Uganda
perspective
practices
attitude
knowledge
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Summary:The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a global public health concern affecting over 5 million people and posing a great burden on health care systems worldwide. The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of medical students in Uganda on the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted an online, descriptive cross-sectional study in mid-April 2020, using WhatsApp Messenger. Medical students in 9 of the 10 medical schools in Uganda were approached through convenience sampling. Bloom's cut-off of 80% was used to determine good knowledge (≥12 out of 15), positive attitude (≥20 out of 25), and good practice (≥12 out of 15). The data of 741 first- to fifth-year medical students, consisting of 468 (63%) males with a mean age of 24 (SD 4) years, were analyzed. The majority (n=626, 84%) were pursuing Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees. Overall, 671 (91%) had good knowledge, 550 (74%) had a positive attitude, and 426 (57%) had good practices. Knowledge was associated with the 4th year of study (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 4.1, 95% CI 1.6-10.3; P<.001). Attitude was associated with the female sex (aOR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-1; P=.04) and TV or radio shows (aOR 1.1, 95% CI 0.6-2.1; P=.01). Practices were associated with the ≥24 years age category (aOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.1; P=.02) and online courses (aOR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-3.2; P=.03). In total, 592 (80%) medical students were willing to participate in frontline care if called upon. Medical students in Uganda have sufficient knowledge of COVID-19 and will be a large reservoir for health care response when the need arises.
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ISSN:2369-2960
2369-2960
DOI:10.2196/19847